The Effect of the Bolshevik Rule on Russian Culture
Bolshevik cultural policy was based on spreading their values to the
population. They attempted to promote equality to create a classless
society. In addition to removing class differences they attempted to
give equal status to women and to young people. In order to encourage
women to work state funded crèches were established and laws passed to
give women parity in terms of pay with men. The state tried to destroy
the old concept of families by legalising abortion and enabling people
to obtain divorces much more simply. This was against the teaching of
the Orthodox Church which was not tolerated by the Bolshevik party as
it had been deeply involved in the Tsarist system and the belief
propagated by it that the Tsar was God's representative on Earth was
the basis of its power. Religion in general was considered the "opium
of the masses" as it was described my Marx the founding father of
communism. The church's physical resources were taken from it and its
ability to spread its message was damaged by the outlawing of
religious education outside of the home and by the activities of the
League of the Militant Godless a Bolshevik sponsored organisation
intended to spread anti-religious propaganda. Bolshevik success in
this area was varied as it did succeed in destroying the church as
organisation but surveys of the peasantry in the 1920s found that 55%
of peasants were still practicing Christians. The survival of religion
is probably due to the often more lenient policy practiced locally
which would often permit religious people to join the party in
contravention of central policy. Islam was also prominent in the east
of Russia however this was affected little partially due to wariness
of the Bolshevik leadership and probably also due to the distance from
Moscow which made enforcement of central party policy difficult.
The Bolshevik approach to the arts and popular culture was split into
two broad views the first held by Lenin that culture was important but
subordinate to class conflict.
The Transformation of Bolshevik Position Between February and October 1917 Most historians think that the Bolshevik’s position went from playing almost no role in February 1917; they had only 150 members in the Pultilov Works which had 20,000 workers, to taking control of the country in October by a combination of luck and skill. It was said of the Bolshevik party in early 1917 that “The Communist Party existed solely in the leaders.” Many historians think Lenin’s leadership was the joint main reason for making the party into the leading revolutionary group in Russia, along with the luck the Bolsheviks had in the circumstances under the Provisional Government. A few historians claim Germany played a major role in the Bolshevik’s road to power. The Germans helped many previously exiled revolutionaries to get back to Russia when the Tsar abdicated and the Provisional Government came to power from March onwards, in the hope that they would end the war.
The Success of the Bolsheviks in Gaining Power in Russia by 1922 In February 1917, the Bolshevik party was small and irrelevant. The leadership was abroad and there was little consistency of purpose among the party in Russia. However, by the summer of 1922, the Bolsheviks had become the dominant force, and a new communist state had emerged from their success. The purpose of this essay is to explain this transformation.
so a treaty would be a minor set back if Germany lost the war to
Edward Dunes’ life as a revolutionary during Russia’s transition from a Tsarist state to that of a Marxist-Socialist regime, was propagated by many situational influences/factors stemming from his families relocation from Riga to Moscow. As a young boy in Riga, Dunes’ thirst for books along with a good educational elevated his potential to be a highly skilled worker. Dune’s childhood education coupled with factory life in Moscow along with a subsequent influential individual in his life with his father’s heavy labor socialist views, molded Dune into the Bolshevik revolutionary he became.
In the late 19th century Russia had been notably behind Europe economically, they weren’t in possession of the modern farming technologies that could efficiently provide for a large country. As a result 90% of the Russian population were peasants (Massey, 4). The serfs lived in deep poverty; they didn’t have the appropriate apparatus to produce enough crops and most of their landlords had unbelievably high demands. In an effort to reform the economy’s recession tsar Alexander II liberated the serfs. However this created more bad for both the serfs and the nobles. In the beginning the serfs saw this is a great victory and another reason to be thankful for their tsar. But as timed pass by the peasants saw this life of liberty and freedom to be increasingly difficult. The government directly compensated the nobles, while the less desirable land was sold to the peasants at a much higher price. They monthly rent they paid the nobles was replaced with paying the state (Massey, 5). And while the population nearly doubled between 1861-1917 poverty increased not only with the peasants but with the nobles as well. Nobles found it hard to assimilate them to a new life style where they would have to trade their lavish goods with farming tools and as result many of them acquired a large amount of debt. This period signifies a time where the people of Russia opened their eyes to the deep poverty and lives of oppression they were living. This is the point where the feelings of peasants who previously worshiped the tsar turned bitter. After consistent resistance to industrialization the tsar had finally given in, aggressive approaches were put in place and railroads grew more than 15,500 miles in 1880 (Massey,6). As the Industrial production con...
on or not. It is impossible to say how much effect the war had of the
The Russian Revolution was a turning point in history because it tried to use communism as its main principal. “Communism is the riddle of history solved, and it knows itself to be this solution” (Marx Quotes: Quotes from Karl Marx and Frederick Engels). In a communist society, everyone in that society receives equal shares of the benefits derived from labor. In a communist nation, there would be a classless society, and everyone would be happy to share their wealth. The government would own all means of production, and the government would redistribute the wealth from the rich to the poor. The Russian revolution started due to the lack of food in Russia, and the huge difference between the rich and the poor. The Russian people were also mad that Czar Nicholas II was keeping Russia in war. Thousands of Russian soldiers were being killed every week. At the end of the war, around 1,700,000 soldiers died (WWI Casualty and Death Tables). At least 1,500,000 Russians and possibly up to more than 5 million Russians were wounded. (WWI -- Russia).
Rule of Lenin vs the Tsar The beginning of the 20th century saw a great change in the political structure of the Russia. A country once led under an autocracy leadership. was suddenly changed into a communist state overnight. Dictatorship and communism are at separate ends of the political spectrum. This study so clearly shows both involve the oppression of society and a strict regime in which people are unable to voice their opinions.
How do you characterize a country, the people who occupy the land, their livelihood and who they are as a group? Culture is the answer that can illustrate a country with millions of people. Culture is the culmination of social interactions in a certain region, terrain, religious beliefs, and society as a whole. Russia is a nation that has been molded and formed by their culture, for better or worse. Russia is described through its vast history, population, politics and events that have molded Moscow’s attributes.
The Effects of Stalin on Russia Much like Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin was one of the most ruthless and despised people in the recorded history of the world. Stalin, though, found it fit to abuse his people in any way he saw fit. This man started what history now calls "The Great Purge. " Through the late 1920's when the rest of the world was living it up as the roaring 20's came to an end, Joseph Stalin was setting the stage for gaining absolute power by employing secret police repression against opposing political and social elements within his own Communist Party and throughout society.
The Similarities of Tsarist and Communist Rule in Russia Both forms of government did depend on high degree of central control. However, some Tsars and Stalin exerted more central controls than others. Stalin’s stronger use of central control created differences between the two forms of government. The Tsars used different levels of central control.
The Success of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in October 1917 The Bolshevik seizure of power or coup de’tat of October 25th, 1917 was a culmination of both internal and external failure to satisfy the needs of an oppressed Russian society. In contrast to the spontaneous revolts earlier in 1917, the Bolshevik revolution was ‘a carefully planned plot carried out by ‘professional’ revolutionaries. ’[1] The victory of the Marxist Lenin’s Bolsheviks was due to the failure of the Provisional Government in response to land policies; their failure to gain support from the masses; the lack of ‘real’ authority of the Provisional Government and the military failure of the army.
Who were the Bolsheviks and what did they stand for?The word Bolshevik means a person in the majority, as opposed to Mensheviks, a person as a minority. Bolshevism was a dissenting movement within Russian Marxism before World War I, which eventually became the founding political party of the Soviet Union (Bolshevism). The group originated at the party’s second congress, 1903 when Lenin’s followers, insisted that party membership be restricted to professional revolutionaries. They often spend their time arguing about their beliefs and where they should go further them (Truman). The group had lack of supporters in the beginning, had a lot of disagreements with other colleagues, and their beliefs had finally appealed to the working class.
was turned on its head and started again. He had a list of ideas and
The Conditions for Workers and Peasants Under the Bolsheviks and Under the Tsar's Rule Conditions for workers and peasants were deplorable under the rule of the Tsars, but not to the extent they were under the Bolsheviks. Despite the Bolsheviks claiming their policies were entirely in favour of the proletariat, peasants were forced to face horrific famine and a vast decline in living standards under rule by Lenin and the Bolsheviks. When Alexander II came to power in 1855 he realised that in order to modernise Russia and improve the weakening economy he needed to make dramatic reforms. In 1861 Alexander issued his Emancipation Manifesto, proposing 17 legislative acts that would free the serfs in Russia. Even though this new-found freedom in some ways seemed to place a greater burden on the peasants due to heavy redemption payments on their land and little improvement regarding agricultural methods in Russia, the act made the now-freed serfs feel that progress was being made towards a fairer social system in Russia and gave them some hope for more affirmative reforms in the future.